Kara for Dow spoke to Rotary Members Tuesday, September 20: Collaborated with Meijer on a Plastic Bag Recycling Project
In collaboration with Meijer, Dow ( NYSE: DOW) enabled a new paving technique using recycled plastic bags to create a more durable parking lot for the retailer's Holland, Mich. supercenter. This recycled polymer modified asphalt (RPMA) parking lot is a three-phase pilot project that used approximately 12,500 pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic (PCR), the equivalent weight of 944,000 plastic grocery bags.
This project brings recycled plastic bags full circle and represents a long-term collaboration between two Michigan companies working toward a more sustainable future.
This pilot project incorporated numerous partners to take the recycled plastics and turn them into a resurfaced parking lot. PADNOS, a materials recycler, aggregated the Meijer recycled plastics and converted them into usable PCR content. K-Tech Specialty Coatings, an asphalt emulsion company, modified the base asphalt binder with ELVALOY™ RET and PCR content. Rieth-Riley, the construction contractor, produced the final hot-mix asphalt and paved the Meijer parking lot and gas station.